


up while the city sleeps.

by junfhongs



Series: simple is sexy, baby (whoa). [2]
Category: NCT (Band), NU'EST
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff, Implied Sexual Content, M/M, Minor Violence, Persona 3 AU, Persona AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-13
Updated: 2018-05-13
Packaged: 2019-05-06 05:06:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14634729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/junfhongs/pseuds/junfhongs
Summary: persona!AU. all Taeyong really wanted was to go on a date. simple, right? well, apparently fate had different plans, most of them serving to drive himabsolutely insane.





	up while the city sleeps.

"So," Doyoung smirked at how Taeyong rubbed his eyes, "how was the date?" Taeyong blinked at him, a certain helplessness written in his eyes. Doyoung felt an even bigger smile tug at his lips. "It was a disaster, wasn't it?"

Taeyong felt himself grow pale. "I mean, if you consider being caught in a time warp full of monsters and having to watch your date shoot himself in the head to summon another monster to protect you as a 'disaster', then yeah. Something like that."

 

 

———

 

 

Taeyong had been looking forward to this date for a long, _long_ time.

Well, both of them had, especially since they had gone through all the usual awkward phases of a blooming relationship—including the customary awkward first kiss!—before they decided to actually go out together properly instead of waiting for circumstances to line up and shove them at each other. Jonghyun was the one who shyly asked Taeyong out, the one who managed to arrange things so they could sit in a painfully silent dinner as quickly as possible and spend the rest of the night walking around and talking about all the dumb things they had in common.

It was nice. Really, really fucking nice. Taeyong kind of felt himself being stupidly charmed by the simplicity of things, by the way the two of them managed to trudge past the worst parts of dating and straight into the parts that seemed to be made for them, like companionable silence and smiles hidden behind large sleeves and gentle kisses that grew bolder when they realized that they were finally, finally alone in this world.

Jonghyun tugged on Taeyong's hair when he felt a hand snaking under his sweater. "I like where this is going, I really do—"

"That totally doesn't sound ominous," Taeyong interjected, but he backed off when he felt Jonghyun's arms dropping from their comfortable position around Taeyong's neck. "That was a good first date, by the way."

"Thank you. You played your part well too," said Jonghyun, and they grinned at each other before Jonghyun stepped out of the dark corner they were making out in and closer to the front door of his dorm building. "I should go up before curfew starts."

Unfortunately for him, he was interrupted by Minki barrelling straight out of the front door and into him. "Hey!" Minki beamed at the two. "How was the date?"

"It was good?" Taeyong answered hesitantly, maybe just a _little_ intimidated by how Minki had absolutely no boundaries when it came to Jonghyun. "Why are you in a rush?"

"Taxi's almost here. Aron's back and he wanted to go out for drinks. You should come!" Minki looked at Taeyong. "He said Johnny will be there too. You should come along, Taeyong. _Continue the night,_ as they say." Minki winked at Taeyong's choked laughter and the way Jonghyun narrowed his eyes at Minki.

"Isn't curfew in, like, three hours?" Jonghyun raised an eyebrow. "Then again, no one's here to actually keep us from going out, so…" Jonghyun motioned at the taxi that was starting to slow down in front of them. "After you?" he offered Taeyong.

"Don't mind if I do," he said, and he tugged on Jonghyun's hand as he got into the backseat with him, making Minki roll his eyes and laugh as he sat in the passenger's seat.

Despite Jonghyun's initial hesitation and his general distaste for these kinds of gatherings, he did loosen up when he saw how Taeyong did, how he managed to push himself to go out there and allowed his friends to egg him on if it served the purpose of making the night a little more enjoyable. Most of the time, it was really Taeyong dragging Jonghyun into making stupid decisions _with_ him, at least so they could feel stupid together.

He also literally dragged Jonghyun around, from the bar, to the dance floor, to the cramped booth where most of their friends were using as their home base, and finally to the back of the club where a tipsy Taeyong pressed Jonghyun back against a wall with a knee between Jonghyun's legs to continue that kiss that he found unnecessary to disturb from earlier tonight. Taeyong wasn't exactly in his best state and neither was Jonghyun, but he was clearly much worse off than Jonghyun was when something in the atmosphere changed and Taeyong couldn't really focus on anything other than the sweetness of Jonghyun's kiss despite all the damn alcohol they've both drank that night.

"Wait," Jonghyun whispered, and his eyes widened when Taeyong pulled back just the slightest bit. There was a pause in his movements, and that was enough for Taeyong to turn around—

—and almost yell his lungs out when he saw the brightness of the moon, the eerie green glow of the night sky, and the blood pooling everywhere on the ground. Jonghyun clamped a hand over his mouth before Taeyong could scream, and as the sound of his heart hammering against his chest slowly faded out of his perception, other sights and sensations caught his attention, like the shape of coffins in the distance and the goosebumps rising on his arm and the slick sounds and low growling that seemed to be approaching them from a direction that Taeyong's inebriated mind couldn't figure out.

"What the fuck," he whispered against Jonghyun's palm. Jonghyun pulled his hand back slowly but kept the one that was holding Taeyong by the arm, keeping him from running away or doing something brash. "What's happening, Jonghyun? This is— this is a nightmare, right?"

"I can't explain right now," Jonghyun said quietly, "but we need to get out of here." He held Taeyong's hand and pulled him towards the back entrance of the club, but it was locked from the inside. "Automatic electric lock. Ugh, fuck Minki and his stupid drinking ideas!" he hissed. He tried to drag Taeyong out to the front of the club or anywhere else where people might be, but Taeyong was rooted at his spot at the sound of that growling coinciding with the splashing of blood coming from behind them. Jonghyun cursed under his breath as he slowly turned around.

Taeyong had to stifle his own scream this time as a blob of darkness stepped out into the sickening yellow-green moonlight, revealing a bright blue mask that almost looked as if it were regarding Taeyong. Jonghyun stood in front of him with a _gun_ in his hand. "Where the hell did you get that?" Taeyong hissed, panic seeping into his every word, but Jonghyun seemed so damn calm in the face of a monster that seemed to be growing in size and growling louder and louder at the sight of Jonghyun's gun.

"Don't be alarmed," said Jonghyun, looking back at Taeyong briefly, "and step back."

That was all he said in warning before he lifted the gun and pointed it at his temple, not even hesitating for a second before he pulled the trigger and made Taeyong's knees give out from beneath him.

Taeyong didn't even feel any pain as his bones collided with the pavement, didn't feel disgust as blood stained his jeans, not when the very real sight of Jonghyun shooting himself in the head was overshadowed by the light that was now shining in front of him and the creature that emerged from it, slithering forward with its giant snake body and using its human-like torso to shield the two behind him from the blob monster's sight.

It struck the butt of its lance on the pavement, surprising the monster and causing it to flinch backwards and reveal two arms, dripping of darkness and shielding itself. The snake creature stalked forward, mimicking Jonghyun's slow and deliberate steps as he tried to get the monster's attention and circle around it, farther away from Taeyong's stunned form.

There was only a brief pause before the monster lunged forward, reaching up to grab at the snake creature's shield and drag him down, but that gave the hybrid a chance to drive his lance into the blob's body. The monster groaned, but the lance was now stuck in his form, leaving the snake unable to move and strike again.

"Fuck!" Jonghyun yelled. Suddenly, the snake creature swung his shield arm and sent the monster flying, its form crashing against the wall of the club. Before it could regroup its scattered blobs, the creature slithered closer and destroying the mask with his weapons, cracking it with its shield and crushing each severed piece with the butt of his lance even as it disintegrated into ash.

Taeyong was still on the ground as a severed arm tried to crawl its way to him, and the ash it turned into flew in his direction as another burst of light appeared and the snake creature vanished with a light gust of wind. Taeyong rubbed his fingers together, feeling the roughness of the granules against the pads of his fingers, which was the last thing he felt before the lightness in his head finally took over and he promptly passed the fuck out, _no thanks_ to a certain Kim Jonghyun who he heard running towards him, _still_ with that damn gun in his hands.

 

 

———

 

 

Doyoung laughed in his face the moment Taeyong finished his story, and now that Taeyong could look back at his words, he realized that it was probably for good reason. He… sounded positively _insane._

"Taeyong, you probably just got super drunk and passed out," teased Doyoung, his wheezing laughter finally dying down. "It's _okay;_ I won't get on your ass for falling asleep while making out." He straightened up when the professor finally woke up from the nap he had been taking on his desk. "Now shut up and keep your insane dreams to yourself."

But the thing was: _Taeyong wasn't insane._ He wanted to believe it was a dream, that his subconscious just _decided_ to come up with some nightmare world covered in blood and roaming with monsters, but his knees still had bruises from when his legs gave out from underneath him— and before Doyoung could try and tease him about it, it was _not_ because he dropped down to give Jonghyun a blowjob.

… though honestly, he couldn't get that thought out of his mind for the rest of the class. The only boner-killing thought he needed, however, was the _very real_ sight of Jonghyun shooting himself in the head. Yeah, that's… super effective.

Taeyong couldn't really be bothered to dwell on it further though, not when the first person that greeted him as he got out of the building was a nervous Kim Jonghyun who didn't really know how to approach him all of a sudden. "Hi," he said quietly, hands still in his hoodie. "I know you may not want to see me, not after last night—"

Taeyong pumped his fist subtly and chuckled under his breath. "I _knew_ I wasn't just imagining things."

"No, you weren't." Though the implication of confirming that the events from last night were real wasn't exactly good for Taeyong's sanity, there was some relief in the knowledge that he wasn't insane and this little warm feeling in his chest when Jonghyun loosened up and started smiling at him again. "I promise to tell you everything I could possibly explain. Will you… come with me?"

"Where?" Taeyong held the strap of his bag defensively, but he found himself already walking with Jonghyun to the bus stop.

"My dorm." Jonghyun bit his lip. "We'll need privacy for this. There's… a lot to talk about."

 

 

———

 

 

"You dressed already?" Jonghyun looked back and smirked at Taeyong who was now stretching his arms over his head. Jonghyun got a demonstration of how _flexible_ Taeyong really was just a few moments ago, and the thought of what they had just done made both of them blush considerably.

"Why? Are you kicking me out already? I'm not your booty call _._ " Jonghyun snorted at that. Taeyong leaned back on the headboard and crossed his arms over his chest, and it only took a few seconds before he burst into an incredulous smile. When his eyes met Jonghyun's, he forced himself to be stern again. "You still have a lot of explaining to do, Kim Jonghyun."

"I know," Jonghyun said with a soft laugh. He opened a tiny cupboard in the corner of his room, and Taeyong's eyes widened as he realized that it was covering a fucking _surveillance camera._ "Now, don't be—"

"Jonghyun, is your dormitory run by a group of creeps?" Taeyong started looking around, a little terrified at the thought that Jonghyun had to sleep with someone recording him in his own room. "Isn't that a violation of privacy?"

"No, it's—" Jonghyun sighed and took a seat on the edge of the bed beside Taeyong. "This place is run by your family, Taeyong. Your corporation."

Taeyong's eyes narrowed. "We don't venture in real estate or lodging—"

"Taeyong, listen. I'm going to say a lot of things, and it may seem like too much all at once, but I need you to listen." Jonghyun sighed and tried to hold his hand. "The cameras are for our protection. We're given the option to cover it for… privacy," the two of them bit their lips at that, "but for the most part, we have to keep it open to detect any abnormal behavior, especially given our powers.

"That phenomenon from last night—the atmosphere changing, time stopping, monsters appearing—that's called the dark hour. It's not so much of an hour as it is a slice in time after midnight where the world is altered and only a select few are conscious while the others are transmogrified into coffins— you saw some of those. It's a little crazy to believe it, but your family's company had something to do with starting this nightmare, and now they've tapped our help—the ones with the potential—to try and do something about it."

Taeyong's hands were shaking. "This… _potential._ Is that what that snake monster was?"

Jonghyun chuckled. "The product of it, yes. Everyone living in this dorm is capable of summoning a persona, which is basically a manifestation of your inner thoughts and inner self. It's a bit complex, and I'm not the best person to come to when it comes to explaining it." Jonghyun rubbed the back of his neck. "Because you were conscious during the dark hour and you don't seem to have forgotten anything from the experience, I think… it's safe to say that you have the potential, Taeyong."

"And if I want to summon my persona…" Taeyong trailed off as he lifted his free hand and pressed fingers against his temple, his hand forming the shape of gun cocked against his head. A bright glint in the corner of Jonghyun's room caught Taeyong's eye, and Jonghyun stood to pick something up from it— the same gun that he hid inside his coat and used on himself just the night before. It terrified Taeyong to see how comfortable Jonghyun was with it, how calmly he did all of _that_ last night.

"The evoker— it's shaped like a gun to help us face our fear of death," Jonghyun said quietly, "because we could die. Just like that." He snapped his fingers. "And yet we need to face that fear and overcome that darkness to be able to summon the power that will save us from that fate. We get to choose our fate, in that sense."

Jonghyun sat beside Taeyong on the bed, their sides making contact as they stayed silent. "This is… a lot to process," mumbled Taeyong, and Jonghyun's silence was a sign that he understood what Taeyong needed. This was exactly what he needed: Jonghyun just being there, a touch away if Taeyong wanted to bridge that little gap.

Taeyong never heard of this incident, phenomenon, or _whatever_ before. Never in his whole life did he think that the institution keeping him in this comfortable life was capable of so much… _horror._ The gun— _evoker_ —in Jonghyun's hand caught his attention; choosing his fate, huh?

"Why'd you bring me here, Jonghyun?" Taeyong nudged him with an elbow. "And _don't_ tell me it was just for the sex."

Jonghyun laughed loudly this time, pressing his cheek on Taeyong's shoulder as they broke into a fit of giggles for a while. Taeyong liked how he rested his head there and kept Taeyong close by grabbing the hand that was pressed against his side. Jonghyun grinned when he looked up at Taeyong with sweet eyes and immediately received a kiss on the tip of his nose, the most chaste thing they've done in the short time that they've both been in this cramped room.

"You're going to think I'm crazy," Jonghyun warned, "but we need you to move in with our group." Taeyong gaped at him, eyes shaking at the thought of living in these dorms with all of Jonghyun's friends, the ones that they didn't necessarily share, the ones that Taeyong didn't necessarily… like, _oops_.

"Why? To hone my potential or whatever?" Taeyong pulled his hand back. "Can't I do that on my own? Or just meet up whenever I need to train or something?"

"Taeyong," Jonghyun said calmly, though Taeyong heard the panic in his deep voice as he felt the instability of the situation, "it doesn't work that way. Until you've summoned your persona and we know exactly what you're capable of, you need to stay under surveillance. That fear of yours— it's the reason why that shadow found us the other night. We can't— _I_ can't stand the thought of not being able to protect you if that happens again."

Taeyong's eyes widened even further when Jonghyun let him hold the evoker in his shaky hands, amazed at how real it felt and how terrifying it must be to use it for the first time. "Give yourself the power, the _choice_ to change your fate."

Those words stuck with Taeyong for the longest time as they let the day pass them by, with Jonghyun moving around him in silence as Taeyong sat there in deep, deep thought. He didn't know why he was even considering this, why the thought of power coursing through his veins occupied his mind. He also thought of that creature—this _persona_ —being a reflection of himself, being something beautiful and terrifying and painfully true to who he truly was. A part of himself wanted to see that.

And there was this other part, this smaller part, this _stupid_ part, that wanted to see more of the boy who was sitting by the foot of his own bed now, gazing at Taeyong while he thought Taeyong was still too busy with his thoughts to notice Jonghyun watching him. Taeyong decided to look up suddenly, catching Jonghyun by surprise as he averted his gaze and blushed brightly. Taeyong wanted to see more of this stupid boy who he liked so much, the one who he just wanted to drag out for a clandestine kiss and ended up being dragged into something so much bigger than himself and his damned _crush._

"I just wanted to go on a _date,_ " Taeyong said incredulously, and he smiled at Jonghyun through his eyes. Jonghyun took that as his sign to lie down beside Taeyong again, reading his mood and taking his hand, "… and now I'm moving in, huh?"

Taeyong felt his relief in the way his shoulders dropped. Jonghyun laughed and pressed his uncontrollable grin against Taeyong's fingers. "Welcome home, Taeyong."

**Author's Note:**

> OH YES THE PERSONA AU OF MY DREAMS
> 
> also mostly based on persona 3, the video game ofc
> 
> i kind of have some little plans and moments i've thought of for this universe, so if anyone's interested in a multichap for this crackship ,,,,, HAHHAHAHAH just tell me bc i'll have to think abt investing time and energy into little oneshots within this universe maybe ,,,
> 
> anyway thanks for reading and inadvertently supporting the jonghyun/taeyong (leadership) agenda ;;;; no one is stopping me so i'm just going to keep going with this pointless ride lmao
> 
> follow me on [twitter (@amenochieien)](https://twitter.com/amenochieien) or talk to me on [curiouscat (/junfhongs)](https://curiouscat.me/junfhongs)!!


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